The invention generally relates to roof-covering membranes, and more particularly relates to a universal, adjustable fitment for use with roof-covering membranes.
Polymer coated membranes are commonly used to cover essentially flat roofs. The membrane is custom designed for the particular roof on which it is to be used. The roof measurements are provided to the factory which creates a unitary membrane from separate pieces which have been heat welded together.
There are frequently items protruding from the surface of the roof, such as vents, ductwork, air conditioning units, and the like. The size and location of these items must also be provided to the factory so that accommodations can be made for them in the membrane.
Providing a water-tight seal around these protrusions presents a number of problems. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,799,986 and 4,872,296 disclose a method and a fitment which have been used to cover the corners of protrusions. The corners comprise a first generally rectangular member segment, a side being part-way split interjacent its ends and a second member segment with a triangularly-shaped corner portion conformed to loop shape and having its marginal edges overlying portions of the first segment contiguous to the split and being welded thereto in a continuous weld seam. These known items work best when the corner is a right angle and the angle between the roof and the protrusion is a right angle.
However, in many cases the corner will not be a right angle, or the protrusion is not at a right angle to the roof, or there is some other irregularity in the protrusion, such as the bottom and the top being of different sizes. In these situations, known methods do not provide satisfactory results. The membrane must be folded or "bunched" in order to conform the membrane to the underlying structure. Not only is this folding and bunching unsightly, water can collect in the fold which can have deleterious effects on the roofing membrane and/or can lead to localized leaks at seams and at other places in the membrane. In addition, the folding can lead to cracking of the roof membrane over time, due in part to stresses induced by the fold lines.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a universal fitment which provides a smooth transition no matter what the shape or angle of the underlying protrusion and which eliminates the need to fold the roof membrane.
The present invention provides a universal fitment that is useful with roof membranes to cover exposed roof areas around a vertical protrusion in a roof. The fitment is partially secured to the boot prior to installation of the boot on the roof membrane. Once the roof membrane is in place at the vertical protrusion, the floating portion of the fitment is finally secured to the roof membrane, substantially free of folds and bunching of material.